VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

Looking for some more feedback than just the ozzies piping up....I want an easy planing board in 15knots for my 97kg running up to a 6.4, slog out in less than 12, super light but still able to run some waves....am I dreaming? Seems to me I am always handicapped by my body weight....

Experienced most SUP sailing with the AHD Sealion Classic, has been positive, fun to mixed:
-certainly easily unhaulable at 135L
-I can tack this one pretty easily
-super nice and short at 7'8", fits inside the van
-stable paddler even for a poor paddler like me as a SUP in flat water, tough for me in even small waves, dives (keep in mind my weight!)
-runs backside no problem, does small cutbacks and semi DTL
-planes not much earlier than my Quatro 110 and when it does it is hard to keep it there due to board width and no straps, fin washing out on occasion as it gets OP from the sail
-twin A-box 22cm? shallow cord wave fins seem small, I usually run a 5.7/5.8 which is probably why
-a handful on larger waves above waist high, ankle/leg break potential for sure and not quick enough to slash certainly
-a blast and super stable heading out, catches most decent waves with a pump in ~7-10knots but is much easier in 10-13kn
-deck is grippy enough and compfy but I miss at least a front strap when trying to maneuvre on the wave, the rear ramp helps a lot tho....this would also help picking it up in the break....I may have to install a couple of plugs

Quatro 8'6" SUP good, at times exciting:
-Tougher to paddle than the Lion, rolls more and dives (keep in mind my weight!)
-faster under sail and tracks well, easy planing with single fin set up
-nice deck, didn't feel overboarded on waves but also need to pump, similar to Lion at catching waves, missed maybe a few more with this one than the Lion
-I can NOT tack this one pretty easily
-great on the wave, lots of options, decent speed
-Nice carry handle, longer and more difficult to stow
-135L too, not so stable for uphauling but still relatively easy

Quatro 10' SUP good alround, nice suprise:
-probably the best sailor overall but not so fast on the wave, real wave riding maneuvres limited due to its size but can handle huge sails too
-at 200L it is a great learner board and easily uphaulable but a bitch to haul, it needs the roof
-paddles fairly easily even in bigger swell, tho still has a roll to it I found suprising for its size, figures under foot with a sail it is rock solid but not so paddling, takes a bit of skill
-tracks pretty well and does bigger waves suprisingly great
-I can tack this one pretty easily
-needs a bigger swell to get it to run with the waves
-deck is equally great finish and it planes up easily with no real want for a strap...ur not doing a whole lot on the wave

I have tried DavidM's starboard (150L?) and it catches anything in sight and is large, doesn't seem to plane but fast and fun on the wave but not able to slash or DTL ...at least I couldn't....and it felt too heavy for my liking....probably really good at LB to catch long waves, tracks better than the Lion but not as squirmy which I like

I keep looking at the Fanatic Allwave 8'11" 150L, apparently super stable, and the Exocet Fish 8'11" 145L but this one is supposed to be a bitch to learn to paddle tho pretty quick and dicey

Anyone else got something?? I keep thinking maybe just pick up a 125L freaking cross/free board and center mount the straps I recall ol'-f Art sailing that ancient Mistral at JR with a 6m having a lot of fun

Based on my experience with the starboard 9'8" Element, and the 8'5" Pro, the Starboard sup's hardly plane at all- with all the rocker, they seem to want to dig themselves into the water when you put the hammer down with the sail power. i look at this as a tradeoff for looseness on the wave, considering i only sup sail in non-planing conditions anyway, its more for slog out/ride in - or just goofing around.

If you really want to be able to plane up easy in flat water with a 6.4 you will be looking for flatter rocker and a big fin, that sounds like a windsurfing board to me. I believe the AHD Sea Lion was a design that was supposed to be the best of both worlds though (so was the Kona) . you might look from that point of reference and think about if you want something better sailing or better paddle surfing but I don't think you can achieve both.

If you aren't planing then to me it seems the smallest SUP you could possibly uphaul on is the ticket for the most fun, because you are slogging out anyways. I think a 7'7" or 8' PRO might actually be a lot of fun in these circumstances, but for me, I'd rather just be paddling the thing. Which begs the question why don't they make a WS board with similar volume and dimensions for light wind? Something like BWD's Airborne might be a real fun stick under 8' and 28" - 30" wide and around 100-110 L. Most SUP's are just like wave boards, so their rocker isn't going to get you planing early at all. The flatter rocker of the Airborne or a Pocket Rocket might though, try RedBarons PR, it's got a mast track.

I also rode RedBarons short and wide freeride stick in marginal winds at Pistol and it was actually a lot more fun then I expected for a board that was not really designed to ride waves at all.

That said, I've said this before and I'll say it again, I think you'd just be happier putting in the time to get the balance of a <9' SUP and just paddling the waves in under 15 knots, especially if it's a W-NW which tend to create little chop around here. Multiple times I've been out at LB now while Eastside and DavidM are SUP sailing around while I am paddling. To each his own and they always appear to be having a lot of fun, but no doubt the SUP is a lot more maneuverable on the wave without a sail attached, and you end up catching a lot more waves when you don't have to worry about staying upwind. They might expend less energy though.

I have a Fanatic Allwave, 9'6", 131 L that you could try. Don't know when I'll next be out on the island though. Haven't sailed this one yet, but I can paddle it out in small waves at Westport, so stable enough, catching waves with my, ahem, skill set remains a challenge for me. Baker!

Searching for the Holy Rail:

My history:
Used to be 170 lb 2 weeks ago
First SUP was the 9" 8" Extremist 2008. Around 150 litres. Easy to paddle and pick up waves but not that responsive, based on size. Don't think I ever got this board planing.

Then I bought the 10'6 Kona carbon model with the step tail as I figured it would plane and be good in the waves. Around 140 L. Planed up well with bigger sail but very long and bouncy when say at Pipers. At LB it was fun but it had such a long nose it was hard to swing the nose around. More like a long board. It would take a big sail. But I don't think you need anything bigger than a 5.5 for slog and ride. Big sails are just too unwieldy and you need to move them around a lot when SUP sailing. It was too skinny to SUP for me as it was around 26.5 in wide.

Next was the 9 8 Element 140 l. 2009. Fun. It had a narrow tail so you had to get back fast and turn it off the tail. A good size for easy paddling in all conditions and picked up waves easily. Maybe planed a couple of times even though it has straps.

Naish Hokua 9 3 125 L. I put the mast track in this a year or so ago. It is awesome with a sail but then again doesn't plane. Great board on the wave going rail to rail so you don't have to move back and forth. Carves like crazy. Tough to balance while paddling in wind or current. But the reports on the board are that it is tippy. Probably the most fun in 10-15 knots, like all sup sailing. No straps but you don't need them really as to really work it you have to move around a lot. I always carry the board and rig on my head.

Wave Thruster 106 L. Lots of volume so I can easily slog and ride in gusty 12-18 knots like we get at LB all the time. I sailed this board successfully last year on a few occasions when I would have sup sailed in the past. This board rocks in waves but doesn't plane up that fast, even with a big single fin.

Fanatic Skate 109 L. Turns ok but not great, but planes on a breath of wind. Not even in the same league as the wave thruster on a real wave but in the few times I have had it out in small waves and gusty wind it works great as you are always planing and you just have to work it on the wave.

Take aways. Kus, you probably need to get a SUP 130-150 L so you actually get into SUPing so you are not grumpy at LB when it doesn't meet your wind minimums. If you go wider you can probably go for a lower volume and shorter board. Forget about planing. Something like the Pocket Rocket which is 130 L or its next size up cousin. Hero? Unfortunately there is a learning curve on SUP so it will take you awhile to get comfortable paddling. If you are always falling off you will not have fun. As you get better you can go less volume. Down to Nanmoo and Co territory. Shorter the better, under 9.5 feet so you get the swing weight down on the nose. If you want to plane, then you are probably right, at your weight they don't make a ws board, although you seemed to have fun on your Rebound. Firemove? although very wide.
I found the Sealion to not be that responsive. If you can paddle the Quatro 8 6 just stick with that as you probably will not get a more responsive board on the wave unless you go way smaller and then you will have balance issues while paddling.

Unlike Nanmoo I like to SUP sail above 8-10 knots of wind. Way easier getting out with the sail power and you don't have to fight the wind. Although I can now pretty much go from SUPing to the 106 Thruster, it is more work. I have had some great days in marginal winds on the Hokua.

The Allwaves come highly recommended on the SUP forums for big guys.

The search continues.....

Kus, just a little correction: the Quatro is 128L, not 135.
At 205 pounds, I sailed my 8.6 a few times and thought it was one of the best sailing SUPs i've ridden for waves. It could release and plane pretty well too. For pure wave SUPing, it was quite nice too, though I was always wishing for more looseness and quicker reaction. At 30" wide it is very stable once you find the sweet spot for standing. I think it does both roles very well, but the surfing side suffers a bit relative to narrower, lower volume SUPs built for surfing. Having said that, the 8.6 responds really well to different fin set ups (quad feels very different from tri and twin for example), so you can tailor the feel pretty well for surfing/windsurfing. If you can tolerate the initial wobbling part of the learning curve in SUPing, it might be a good choice. I'd echo a lot of what Eastside wrote.

winddoctor wrote:Kus, just a little correction: the Quatro is 128L, not 135.

indeed, the 135 is the Lion, I recalled the Quatro as 130 but it is now listed at 128 and I missed those 7 liters th big Quatro is actually 215 or something... that doesn't really matter anymore

What about the Starboard blackbox 107 http://www.star-board.com/2014/products ... /black-box? I've never tried one, so I can't share my experience, or the bottom wind, but that's what it's made for. Some of the videos Zane and Dany Bruch look pretty powered up.

For more freeride I tried many a few years ago in Hatteras during a board test. The RRD's including firemove and were the earliest planing and most lively, but never played with it on waves.

That section of the Starboard website is starting to look very "Quatro-ish".

The blackbox looks like a pretty great concept. Reviews have been good too. Very specialized kit though. I'd love one if BWD stored it in his giant van for me.

If there was a blackbox 120l that would be your sweet spot for a suppable WS board there Kus. A few years ago SB had a big waveboard called the Aero in a similar niche, not sure where it went to.

I think the blackbox was the evolution of the aero.

nanmoo wrote:I think the blackbox was the evolution of the aero.

I'd say they are more like different branches of the same tree. The BB was based off of a very short surfboard/fish concept to get snappy/ high performance turns in mush. The Aero is basically a chunky Kombat with more rocker and a curvier outline. Kind of a surf SUP that windsurfs better than it surfs. Joostio has the Aero 117, I think.The BB is closer to the old Starfish with the wide tail/2+1 set up, and back strap close to the tail. The BB doesn't share much Aero design at all. I had a look at the BB 87L in Maui and it looked really interesting. Ultra short, funky, and bullet shaped.

KUS wrote: I keep looking at the Fanatic Allwave 8'11" 150L, apparently super stable,

Hey Markus,I really like my Fanatic ProWave 9'2" 135L. It's a nice size for me at 82Kg and my skill level which is far below the rest of these wave slashing masters! It's just big enough to paddle in flat water and tracks well with a single fin. Although I spent a lot of time falling in at Cape Sebastian last spring after my 5 days there and lots of tips from DWD I was getting the hang of it. I also had it planing with a 5.4 at Cape Sebastian but it was a little freaky without footstraps as it really rips once it gets going but wasn't that responsive. I even caught some air.
Again could be fun for someone with more experience.
I had some of my best wave rides that trip SUP sailing in the light winds using the 5.4.
I did smash the nose on it this summer though practicing helitacks in light winds. The mast hit the nose and I was surprised at the amount of carnage compared to the hits my windsurfers have endured. When I got it fixed by Rob Mulder he said although it has a mast track it's definitely not built like a windsurfer. I think my next SUP will be another ProWave but maybe a smaller one if my skills improve this spring on the coast. I would also get the HRS version as I had a HRS Shark and it was bomber. Also a better price.

Tsawwassen wrote:really like my Fanatic ProWave 9'2" 135L....did smash the nose on it this summer though practicing helitacks in light winds. The mast hit the nose and I was surprised at the amount of carnage compared

yeah, pricing on those is tougher for me to get....yes, we all have had experiences thinking rails and noses can take the hits the early SUPs were really bad for that, getting a bit better I think but padding your gear is definitely a good plan

eastside wrote:9 8 Element 140 l. 2009. Fun. It had a narrow tail so you had to get back fast and turn it off the tail. A good size for easy paddling in all conditions and picked up waves easily. Maybe planed a couple of times even though it has straps.

tried it today, yeah, pretty fun and a whole lot easier than Eastman's new toy, a SB 7'8" 120L guy. man, I couldn't get that thing to go straight nor could I stand up in the CB wavelets very long. The other one tho, thx Udder was a bunch of fun and instant successes keep you going. Totally pooped after a very short session, need more shape. Eastman has been out for a couple hours now....looks so compfy on that tiny thing. Gonna have to bite the bullet and get another one